2025 NASW-Illinois Chapter Advocacy Day
Thank you to the 450 social work students and social work professionals who joined us at our annual 2025 NASW-Illinois Chapter Advocacy Day on Wednesday, April 9, 2025! Read more about the day's activities here.
Next year's Advocacy Day event will be announced in January 2026.
Wednesday, April 9, 2025
Illinois State Capitol Building, Springfield, IL
Event Details
Event Links & Materials
Registration for this year's Advocacy Day has closed.
On-site registrations will not be accepted.
To support our efforts, please consider submitting an action alert to your legislators.
ADVOCACY DAY EVENTS DETAILS
Pre-Advocacy Day Training
THIS TRAINING HAS OCCURRED. TO VIEW A RECORDING OF THE TRAINING,
Date: Monday, March 31, 2025
Time: 12:00–12:30pm via Zoom*
*A recording will be made available to all who cannot participate live virtually.
Participation in our pre-Advocacy Day training to learn about the bills you’ll be
advocating for on Advocacy Day is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. This 30-minute training
will take place live virtually on Monday, March 31, 2025, from 12:00 to 12:30pm via
Zoom. A recording of the training will also be made available to those who are unable
to participate in the live training.
2025 NASW-Illinois Chapter Advocacy Day
Date: Wednesday, April 9, 2025
Download a copy of the day's agenda here.
Meet-Up Point: UPDATED! Theater at the Hoogland Center for the Arts, 420 S 6th St, Springfield, IL 62701
Meet-Up Time: 9:00am
Parking: UPDATED! Metered street parking is available around the venue. There is also parking available at the garage north of the Hoogland Center for the Arts. The garage is owned by Springfield Downtown Parking Inc., and costs $5 for the full day.
Advocacy Day participants should arrive at 9:00am at the meet-up point to find their assigned lobby groups. Participants will receive an e-mail containing their lobby group assignments as well as their group lobby leader. Groups will be labeled by lobby group numbers and spread throughout the space. Lobby leaders will be leading participants through a quick training on how to lobby with legislators before heading to the capitol. Departures to the capitol will vary depending on when legislator meeting times are. NASW-IL staff will be available for additional questions.
Lobbying at Capitol: Illinois State Capitol Building, 401 South 2nd Street, Springfield IL 62701
Lobbying Time: Exact times with legislators will be provided on-site by Lobby Leaders
Participants will walk with their assigned Lobby Leader groups to the capitol for lobbying. Each group will have different appointment times with their legislators for lobbying. Groups may meet with or stop into the offices of other legislators as well as listen in on committee hearings for both the Illinois House and Senate (Check back to https://my.ilga.gov/ for updated committee hearing times).
Lunch on Your Own: Participants should prepare to bring a sack lunch or bring money to purchase a lunch. We strongly recommend participants to eat with their lobby groups so as not to lose contact with their lobby leader in the likely event a legislator’s schedule suddenly changes their appointment time or allows them to be available to meet with constituents. The capitol has an on-site cafeteria located in the basement of the William G. Stratton Building that can be accessed using the underground tunnel beneath the main stairs; otherwise, you can walk outside between buildings but will need to pass through security again.
GET READY FOR ADVOCACY DAY!
NASW-IL Advocacy Day Handouts Folder:
Continue to check back as Advocacy Day materials are uploaded closer to event date. Materials will include:
Factsheets:
Learn more about the possible bills that will be featured at this year's Advocacy Day:
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SB 1604 - Field Placement Stipends for School Social Workers and All Other Social Worker
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HB1806 - Bans AI Chat Bots from serving as Clinical Therapists
More About Bills:
Please Note: The list of bills are subject to change based on legislative activity between now and Advocacy Day.
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SB 1604 - Field Placement Stipends for School Social Workers and All Other Social Worker
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HB 1806 - Bans AI Chat Bots from serving as Clinical Therapists
To search for any bill, visit the Illinois General Assembly webpage: https://www.ilga.gov/
How to Find Illinois House & Senate Committee Hearings:
Make a plan with your lobby group on which hearings you’d like to watch that fits around your meetings with legislators during the day.
To find the latest schedule of committee hearings held by the Illinois House and Senates:
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Go to: https://my.ilga.gov/
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Click on “House” or “Senate” on the far left-hand side menu, then “Committee Hearings.” If you’re checking the page on Advocacy Day, the Today tab will show the current day’s committee hearings; if NOT Advocacy Day, click on the Week tab for the full week’s schedule.
(Download tutorial w/screenshots)
Illinois Capitol Building Map
Download map of where legislator offices are located in the capitol here.
Suggested Dress
Business professional—remember you're meeting with your state legislators and representing the profession! We also recommend sensible walking shoes as you'll be walking approximately 0.5 mile to the capitol and walking around the building in various locations.
Parking
For individual and bus parking locations near the Illinois State Capitol Building, see our parking map.
NASW-Illinois Chapter Bill Tracker
Take a look at the NASW-Illinois Chapter Bill Tracker! This product gives a relative real-time update on bills the chapter is tracking during the current Illinois legislative session. It provides a list of legislative proposals the chapter is currently monitoring or has taken a stance on during the current legislative session. Take a look at the NASW-Illinois Chapter Bill Tracker here.
Advocacy Alerts
To sign up for NASW-Illinois Chapter Advocacy Alerts, go to: https://www.votervoice.net/NASWIL/home
Find Your Elected Official
To find out who your local elected officials are, click here. Scroll down and type in your complete address. The system should identify your address, then click "Confirm Address." Scroll down to find your state senator and state
representative to get their office address, phone number, and e-mail.
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Contact Info for House Members: https://www.ilga.gov/reports/rptMemberList.asp?gaid=18&ChamberId=H
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Contact Info for Senate Members: https://www.ilga.gov/reports/rptMemberList.asp?gaid=18&ChamberId=S
This year's NASW-Illinois Chapter Advocacy Day will take place on Wednesday,
April 9, 2025, in Springfield, IL. Come learn about current emerging issues in the
state of Illinois as well as up-to-the-minute legislation currently up for vote in Illinois.
Unite your voices with hundreds of other social work colleagues on issues that affect
the social work profession!
Advocacy Day attendees will be split up by their senate and house districts and led
by an NASW-Illinois Chapter Lobby Leader to meetings at the Illinois State Capitol
building with their elected officials. Participants will be expected to attend a
30-minute pre-event virtual training that will briefly walk you through the anticipated
bills up for vote the week of Advocacy Day; those who cannot participate in the live
training will be able to access a recording of training. At Advocacy Day, participants
will be trained by NASW-Illinois Chapter Lobby Leaders on effective lobbying
strategies before heading to the capitol to meet with state legislators. Check back with this page in the coming weeks and months as presenters, factsheets, action alerts, and more are posted.
Check back with the "Get Ready for Advocacy Day" section of the page in the coming weeks and months as presenters, factsheets, action alerts, and more are uploaded.
Advocacy Day is a ZERO PROFIT event for the NASW-Illinois Chapter.
All fees cover a portion of the total costs.
REGISTRATION
Register to Vote/Update Your Voting Address
To ensure that your day of lobbying is as effective as possible, we encourage all participants who want to vote in Illinois to register to vote. If you are already registered to vote, check to make sure your voting record has the most up-to-date address on file. You can register to vote in Illinois and update or check on your voting address at:
https://ova.elections.il.gov/
NOTE: If you aren't yet registered to vote in Illinois, aren't sure if you're registered to vote, or need to update your voting address, you can register to do so online now before February 9th or after February 27th. The below link will be valid through 11:59PM on April 9, 2025, at which point, you will be required to register in person at your local polling place through February 26, 2025. The link will reopen at 12:00am on February 27, 2025.
Register for Advocacy Day
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DEADLINE: 9am Central Time on Tuesday, April 1, 2025*
*Registrants received after deadline are not guaranteed to be placed in groups to meet with their direct legislators.
Looking for group registration? In order to get as accurate information as possible about each registrant to maximize advocating efficacy on the day of the event, we ask that you please have students individually register using the above link. Schools who prefer to pre-pay for their students can reach out with the expected number of students participating in the event, and we can send an invoice for payment to allow for students from that school/program to register for free.
LOBBY LEADERS PROGRAM
Essential to the success of our annual Advocacy Day is the
NASW-Illinois Chapter Lobby Leaders Program. This one-day program
will train individuals how to effectively lobby, become familiar with
local state senate and house representatives and other elected
officials, and understand how to navigate advocacy tools to effectively
represent social work priorities. On Advocacy Day, newly trained
NASW-IL Lobby Leaders will help educate and lead social workers
through the state capitol to scheduled meetings with their senate
and house legislators.
>> Learn more about the NASW-Illinois Chapter Lobby Leaders Program
>> Apply to Become an NASW-IL Lobby Leader
